


Family Matters

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, but not much!, ot5-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-26 18:52:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/653353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes family is better than friendship, but sometimes bandmates are a whole lot more understanding</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a prompt from inside-each-of-us on Tumblr:
> 
> "The lads go over to Harry’s place in Cheshire for dinner and Harry’s family is really horrible to him, to a level where it’s uncomfortable—comparing him to Gemma, calling him stupid, making fun of the slow way he talks. He doesn’t say anything, he just quietly grows more and more miserable until someone (Liam?) snaps and yells at them and they take Harry home and sit him on their laps and he cries"
> 
> (This was written before I knew that the boys actually met Harry's family when they stayed at the bungalow during the X Factor... oops)

Liam sighed in relief as he stretched out his arms above his head and shook some movement into his legs. He’d been cramped in the car for 3 hours between a wriggling Niall and Zayn who had decided to fall asleep on him halfway through the journey. Harry had of course picked Louis to sit in the front with him, and Liam was just too nice to complain.

Still, they had now finally arrived at the large Cheshire house and he couldn’t wait to stuff himself with the food that was apparently waiting for them. If Harry’s mother was anywhere near as good at cooking as her son then they were all in for a treat. He found the sight of the country house a little imposing, but he was excited that they could finally meet the extent of his band-mate’s family.

All the rest of the members had introduced their relatives a while ago, but the youngest boy seemed slightly reluctant to let his new best friends ‘meet the parents’ as such. Liam presumed he was just nervous that the band wouldn’t get on with his family, being the constant worrier he was. Not even Louis had been allowed to visit Anne and Robert’s home so there was an air of anticipation as Zayn leaned forward to press the doorbell.

The door swung open almost immediately to reveal a middle aged couple stood there with rather fake smiles on their faces. Liam grinned back more genuinely and the boys were invited in. 

He watched with confusion as Harry kissed his mother on the cheek and then hugged his stepfather. All the right gestures were there but there was no emotion behind them. The movements were awkward and the boy deliberately seemed to be avoiding eye contact with both adults.

“Where’s Gem?” he asked more quietly than even his normal voice.

“She’s at uni this weekend,” his mum replied, sniffing at her son. “Which is where we thought you’d be by now to be honest.” There was awkward silence in the hallway, which Niall (who seemed blissfully ignorant) broke by saying: “It’s lovely to meet you Mrs Cox!” The woman smiled and turned away from Harry as though to emphasise her point. It was with great confusion that Liam followed her into the dining room with the other 4 band members, and thoughts were whizzing around his head. 

Why was Anne acting like this? Why wasn’t Harry complaining? And what exactly was going on with the dynamic in the Styles household?

Lunch was one of the most excruciating meals Liam had ever sat through. The food was delicious but the conversation was awfully painful and stilted. Although he wasn’t one to judge, he couldn’t help but think that Harry’s family were not deserving of such a brilliant child as they mocked and cajoled him throughout all three courses.

“So, Harry, have you got a girlfriend yet?” asked the young man’s mother abruptly, halfway through their roast dinner. Girlfriend? Liam frowned at the curly haired boy across the table and noticed his other band-mates doing the same thing. Louis looked particularly hurt, but Harry just blushed and mumbled something into his plate. “For goodness sake speak up dear,” sighed his mother which her son complied to almost instantly.

“No, not yet mum.” The disappointment was evident from Anne’s face and she didn’t try and hide it in her dialogue either.

“Well Gemma is thinking of moving in with that nice boy we met last month and settling down a bit. Why can’t you do the same?”

The whole band held their breath as they waited for Harry to say something. He rarely showed his anger, but the boy could get wound up from the smallest criticism and here his mother was publicly humiliating him. Yet the teenager didn’t say anything.

After a moment’s silence Harry spoke up.

“How’s your work going Robin?” he asked, and to the surprise of all the young adults his parents burst out laughing. “What is it?” he inquired confusedly.

“Will you let us in on the joke?” Zayn said trying to lighten the mood, and Harry’s stepfather turned to him.

“We’re sorry,” he spluttered trying hard to control himself. “It’s just his voice!”

Liam was utterly shocked – the youngest member was extremely self-conscious about his slow, quiet tone of voice but his parents just took the piss out of him for it!

“And the fact that he asked Rob about work,” added the only woman at the table. “Like he’d know anything about it!”

It was that comment which sent Liam over the edge; he’d had enough of the endless unnecessary bullying from Harry’s parents.

“Well actually, _Mrs Cox_ , your son works extremely bloody hard every day with us so that we can get better and better at what we do. And it’s _actually_ really hard work to be in this industry with everyone expecting you to be someone else, but he never complains because he just wants to impress his family even if they don’t deserve such an amazing boy as him!”

There was absolute silence in the room and Liam looked around at the 6 pairs of wide eyes as a sickening feeling grew in his stomach. What on earth had he just done?

“Harry, I think you should take your friends and leave.” Anne’s voice was strained and she seemed to be struggling to control he temper. Her offspring wasn’t in a much better state as he blinked back tears and nodded.

“Happily!” spat Louis, who was normally so calm but obviously couldn’t stand to see his boyfriend in such distress.

They stood up together, Niall reaching an arm around Harry’s shoulders, and left the room as a group. Just before he stepped through the door Liam turned back to the couple still sitting there in stunned silence.

“Why don’t you think about how lucky you are to have him?” And with that he made his way into the hallway to join his friends. He had no idea how his young friend could possibly have coped with that kind of tormenting from his own family for 18 years or what they could do about it now.

***

Harry was silent for the whole journey back home.

Louis had decided to drive and the youngest member sat next to him, head leaning against the window. Liam felt awful at the thought that he may have just ostracised the teenager even more from his family but in his heart he knew that he couldn’t have stood by and said nothing. Although he sometimes tired of the nickname ‘Daddy Direction’ he honestly felt such a close bond to all the members that there was no way he could let one of them be hurt.

The whole atmosphere in the vehicle was subdued as even Niall didn’t talk above a whisper. No one complained when the car drew up outside Harry and Louis’ shared house and they all made their way in without a fuss. The boys would normally barge in and flop down on the sofa but due to the precarious nature of the situation they all made a silent agreement to act formally.

As all five band members (bar Harry who has collapsed into a beanbag in the corner) perched on the edge of the couch it felt as though someone had died. There was a skinny, curly-haired elephant in the room that all of a sudden started crying. Liam normally always knew what to do in these sorts of situations but this was so utterly out of his comfort zone that he was shocked by his friend’s sudden raw display of emotion.

Instead it was Louis who reached over and put an arm around the boy.

“It’s OK, Haz,” he whispered soothingly. “It’s all going to be OK.”

The moment was terribly intimate but Liam needed to say something. He stood up and stepped towards Harry before reaching a hand to his shoulder.

“We’re all here for you, you know.” Niall and Zayn joined them, nodding in agreement. Harry looked up for the first time since they had left the house in Cheshire and gave a watery smile. They stood there all knowing that this was one situation that wasn’t going to quickly fade away. And yet the comfort from having one another might just help them get over the experience.

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I'm not that keen on this one-shot as I wrote it a long time ago and it now seems just to cheesy for its own good, plus the angst is pretty damn awful. But maybe you guys will like it?  
> Also, I felt extremely uncomfortable writing Harry's family like this when I'm sure they're actually wonderful people, which probably comes across in my writing :/


End file.
